coronavirus,

The ACT has recorded 13 new COVID-19 cases in the 24 hours to 8pm on Sunday. Only two were in quarantine for their entire infectious period. At least 10 cases were infectious in the community. Seven cases were linked to known cases and outbreaks and the sources of the remaining six are under investigation. Six of the linked cases were household contacts. There are nine people in hospital across the territory including three in intensive care, one of whom is on a ventilator. Seven of the nine hospitalised people are unvaccinated, one has had their first vaccine dose while the vaccination status of the ninth person is unknown. The youngest is 18 and the eldest is in their 70s. Chief Minister Andrew Barr is expected to announce plans for how the territory will transition out of lockdown on Tuesday. The current lockdown is scheduled to end on Friday but it appears unlikely there will be any significant easing of restrictions, with a significant proportion of new cases having spent time in the community while infectious. Mr Barr expressed concern about about that figure. "Today's number of people infectious in the community is a concern and presents a challenging period of this outbreak," he said. The ACT's cabinet will meet this afternoon and tomorrow morning to discuss the changes. The number of tests over the weekend dropped to 2402, as has been the trend on weekends. Mr Barr again emphasised the need for testing numbers to stay abov 3000 per day. "The test, trace, isolate and quarantine - the TTIQ - is critical to the success of our public health response," he said. "It's critical now and it's going to remain a key part of our public health response for months to come." Mr Barr also said people should also get tested if one of their household contacts has symptoms, as most linked cases are from household contacts. "If you live with someone who has any symptoms, the household should come forward for testing," he said. There are 334 active exposure sites. Overnight exposure sites included the Malkara Specialist School in Garran, Nipperville Early Learning Centre in Watson and the reception of Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health Service in Narrabundah. MORE COVID-19 NEWS: There are 900 close contacts in quarantine. The ACT has now recorded 506 cases since the outbreak started on August 12, but more than half of those have recovered. Chief health officer Dr Kerryn Coleman said 261 people have recovered and there are 245 active cases. The ACT government has also opened up bookings for 12- to 15-year-olds at its mass vaccination clinics. However, Mr Barr said parents should explore options to get 12- to 15-year-olds vaccinated at GPs and pharmacies as the cohort would have to wait until October or November at the ACT government-run clinics. "It is worth looking around to see the quickest path for vaccination - we are very keen to vaccinate 12- to 15-year-olds as quickly as possible," he said. Our coverage of the health and safety aspects of this outbreak of COVID-19 in the ACT and the lockdown is free for anyone to access. However, we depend on subscription revenue to support our journalism. If you are able, please subscribe here. If you are already a subscriber, thank you for your support. You can also sign up for our newsletters for regular updates. Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:

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The ACT has recorded 13 new COVID-19 cases in the 24 hours to 8pm on Sunday.

Only two were in quarantine for their entire infectious period. At least 10 cases were infectious in the community.

Seven cases were linked to known cases and outbreaks and the sources of the remaining six are under investigation. Six of the linked cases were household contacts.

There are nine people in hospital across the territory including three in intensive care, one of whom is on a ventilator. Seven of the nine hospitalised people are unvaccinated, one has had their first vaccine dose while the vaccination status of the ninth person is unknown. The youngest is 18 and the eldest is in their 70s.

The current lockdown is scheduled to end on Friday but it appears unlikely there will be any significant easing of restrictions, with a significant proportion of new cases having spent time in the community while infectious.

Mr Barr expressed concern about about that figure.

"Today's number of people infectious in the community is a concern and presents a challenging period of this outbreak," he said.

The ACT's cabinet will meet this afternoon and tomorrow morning to discuss the changes.

The number of tests over the weekend dropped to 2402, as has been the trend on weekends. Mr Barr again emphasised the need for testing numbers to stay abov 3000 per day.

"The test, trace, isolate and quarantine - the TTIQ - is critical to the success of our public health response," he said.

"It's critical now and it's going to remain a key part of our public health response for months to come."

Mr Barr also said people should also get tested if one of their household contacts has symptoms, as most linked cases are from household contacts.

"If you live with someone who has any symptoms, the household should come forward for testing," he said.

There are 334 active exposure sites. Overnight exposure sites included the Malkara Specialist School in Garran, Nipperville Early Learning Centre in Watson and the reception of Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health Service in Narrabundah.

There are 900 close contacts in quarantine.

The ACT has now recorded 506 cases since the outbreak started on August 12, but more than half of those have recovered.

Chief health officer Dr Kerryn Coleman said 261 people have recovered and there are 245 active cases.

However, Mr Barr said parents should explore options to get 12- to 15-year-olds vaccinated at GPs and pharmacies as the cohort would have to wait until October or November at the ACT government-run clinics.

"It is worth looking around to see the quickest path for vaccination - we are very keen to vaccinate 12- to 15-year-olds as quickly as possible," he said.

ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr. Picture: Elesa Kurtz

Our coverage of the health and safety aspects of this outbreak of COVID-19 in the ACT and the lockdown is free for anyone to access. However, we depend on subscription revenue to support our journalism. If you are able, please subscribe here. If you are already a subscriber, thank you for your support. You can also sign up for our newsletters for regular updates.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: